Salt Bar Pictures!

[LoveOscar]

I forgot to take pictures while I was mixing! But here is the end result of my first salt bar! :mrgreen: I pre-measured and mixed my oils last night, weighed out my salt, and this morning I weighed and mixed my distilled water and lye. When everything went together, it seemed really watery at first, and foamy, but when I walked away to get my salt and whisk, it traced thick really quick. So I had to rush to get the salt in, and it was a bit thick going into the mold. I wrapped it in plastic and a towel, and unmolded it at about 7 - 7.5 hours. It wasn't to hard to cut, so I cut them at about an inch thick and laid the bars out to cure.

10.9 oz distilled water, 4.17 oz lye, 20% SF

24 oz Coconut Oil (80%)
4.5 oz Sunflower Oil (15%)
1.5 oz Castor Oil (5%)
15 oz Himalayan Sea Salts (50% weight of oils)

 

[Krystalbee]

They sure look purdy! I love the pink. I can't wait to try making some salt bars, I order a snowflake mold for them specifically and its taking forever to arrive

 

[KristaMarie]

They look great! Such a pretty pink

 

[LoveOscar]

Thank you! The pink is actually from the salt! I have no color, EO, or FO additives in it. I'm unsure if the base soap is leaching pink from the salt, or if there is so much salt, the color is showing through the soap, but I'm hoping it stays! We'll see as it cures.

 

[traderbren]

Very pretty!

 

[paillo]

Very, very nice result from your first try! In my experience the lovely pink color will stay. If I want more pink I add a little pink or rose clay to the lye mix. Favorites with my customers, sure they will be for you too Some EOs and FOs will discolor the pink, so if you add fragrance make sure to read the supplier's label to make sure the fragrance does not discolor or accelerate trace. Believe me, you don't want to accelerate trace in a salt bar!

 

[mandy318]

Love them!!

 

[KristaY]

Lovely job & I'm really jealous of your beautiful cuts! Mine are always crumbly even if I cut after only 2 hours which is why I switched to individual cavity molds. Since your color is coming just from the salt, it should be fine. I have a couple of Pink Himilayan bars I made about a year and half ago and they're still pink. Maybe a tiny bit faded but still definitely pink.

Excellent work, LoveOscar!

 

[LoveOscar]

Haha I had seconds to mix in the salt and get it into the mold. It went from pudding to mashed potatoes halfway through the pour after I added the salt. I haven't played with FO's yet, and decided against my first time being with a salt bar. I will have to remember the clay though for next time, just for a bit stronger coloring!

 

[LoveOscar]

Lovely job & I'm really jealous of your beautiful cuts! Mine are always crumbly even if I cut after only 2 hours which is why I switched to individual cavity molds. Since your color is coming just from the salt, it should be fine. I have a couple of Pink Himilayan bars I made about a year and half ago and they're still pink. Maybe a tiny bit faded but still definitely pink.

Excellent work, LoveOscar!

Thanks Krista! I used a vegetable kitchen knife and cut slowly. I have to be careful not to twist the knife off at the bottom, because that did make it crumble.

Good to know the color will stay. I had no idea how it would come out, but I'm very pleased with the results. I plan on trying a second recipe with OO instead of CO, and 30% salt, just to experiment and see how it goes (and because I am cleaned out of CO for the time being!).

 

[shunt2011]

Very nice! I love the color. You will love them I'm sure. They are my favorite to use.

 

[misskittygirl]

Wow that turned out gorgeous!!

 

[CTAnton]

Very beautiful...just curious...is the fine grained himalayan salt as sharp as the coarser grained? I ask because I used some of the coarse grained on top of my bars and I ended up drawing blood from 1 of my testers...I've been a tad gun shy over pink himalayan salt ever since...

 

[jules92207]

Just beautiful!

 

[brandnew]

Well done! Those are brilliant.

I am curious like ct anton......I was tempted to get some himilayan salt.....

 

[LoveOscar]

Obsidian mentioned using 80% CO and 20% to other oils, their preference being OO. So I figured I'd try maybe a 100% because I want a castile bar, and why not split it and throw salt in half of it, just to see how it goes.

The salt I used was "small" not the "extra small" and it is along the lines of large grain sand. I didn't want to go to fine, I wanted some scrubby. I'll take a picture of it to give a size reference when I get home. It's not much larger than the grains in my store bought salt or sugar scrubs.

 

[navigator9]

Those turned out really well. I love that soft pink color.

 

[LoveOscar]

I only had a dime as a reference, hope that works well enough. BB Himalayan Sea Salts "small".

 

[paillo]

I order the extra fine from San Francisco Salt Company, have been really, really happy with them.

 

[CTAnton]

LoveOscar I'd still be careful of sharp edges when that soap has cured and ready to use...in spite of the smaller grain size you used that only boils down to smaller sharp edges...but as this forum has taught me it's all perspective...if it ends up being sharp as I think it will you can always view it as a foot scrub or something of that ilk....trust me, you don't want text messages of blood streaming down people's bodies....ask me how I know I also second San Francisco Salt Company as the go to place for all your salt needs...